Dubai Culture to Launch 12th Edition of ‘Dubai Festival for Youth Theatre’

Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate's dedicated entity for culture, arts, heritage and literature, hasannounced its preparations for the 12thedition of the ‘Dubai Festival for Youth Theatre’ for 2018. The Authority will organise a number of workshops in preparation for this annual local theatre event that cater to young people.

Following the announcement of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, that 2018 be declared the ‘Year of Zayed’, and for it to be a national occasion to commemorate the 100th birthday of the late Founding Father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, is in line with the directives of the wise Government. Dubai Culture, in turn, declared this year’s festival’s theme to be ‘Year of Zayed’ to embody the values ​​of the Late Sheikh Zayed in the participating theatrical works, such as wisdom, respect, sustainability, human building. By educating and preparing the youth for the future, the festival would also be educational in nature.

The festival will take place beginning of October at the Theatre of the Culture and Science Symposium in Dubai. During this twelfth iteration of the festival, new awards will be conceived and a celebration of the artistic and cultural personalities selected from among the leading figures in the performing arts sector will take place. The event will also be diversified to enrich the overall atmosphere of the festival.

Fatma Al Jallaf, Manager of Theatre Section and Head of Dubai Festival for Youth Theatreat Dubai Culture, commented: “The 12th edition of the festival will continue the successes achieved over the past years. We will endeavour, as usual, to present everything that is new and innovative to enrich the theatrical movement locally and globally. The festival has earned an appreciable position for the important role it plays in exploring and developing talent, and in finding real opportunities for it to enter the world of performing arts. This year a group of aspiring young people will reveal their creations to a wide audience of fans, professionals and theatre enthusiasts from the general public.”

The Authority confirmed that three specialised workshops will also be organised in cooperation with a number of the festival's partners in the performance arts sector. The participants will have the opportunity to register their names to participate in the workshops through email (dfytworkshops@dubaiculture.ae). Participation is open to public.

The ‘Dubai Folklore Theatre’ will hold a workshop entitled ‘Theatrical Theatre’ from 1stto 30thAugust, and another under the name of ‘Preparation of UAE Literary Novels and Converting them to Theatrical Scripts’ from August 26thto September 6th. While ‘Dubai Al Ahli Theatre’ will organise the ‘Theatre Directing’ workshop from 1stto 30thAugust. 

The festival, organised by Dubai Culture, aims to highlight the creativity of theatre groups in the UAE, and provide a platform to identify the talents and potentials of actors, directors, authors, decorators, producers, makeup experts, sound engineers, visual displays and lighting, and fashion designers.

Dubai Culture aims to enhance Dubai’s cultural scene and draw attention to the Emirate’s rich heritage with a variety of initiatives that take place throughout the year. The Authority’s mandate is to build bridges of constructive dialogue between different civilisations and cultures through enriching initiatives that benefit Dubai’s citizens, residents and visitors.